Mop holder with articulated handle



Nov. 8, 1955 H. L. WARDEN 2 2,722,704

MOP HOLDER WITH ARTICULATED HANDLE CONNECTION Filed Feb. 5, 1954ZNVENTOR HARRY L map/EN 32 g a Q "0 I A'TTORNEZY United States PatentOfiice 2,722,704 Patented Nov. 8, 1955 MOP HOLDER WITH ARTICULATEDHANDLE CONNECTION Harry L. Warden, Los Angeles, Calif. ApplicationFebruary 5, 1954, Serial No. 408,457

3 Claims. (Cl. 15-153) The invention relates to a mop having anarticulated connection between the handle and the mop head. The mophandle may be adjusted relative to the mop head in any of a number ofpositions wherein the mop may be utilized for cleaning purposes inlocations which might otherwise be inaccessible.

One object of the invention is to an articulated connection between headwhich will permit substantially of the handle relative to the head.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mop in which thecomponent parts which make up the mop head and handle are inexpensive tomanufacture and are readily assembled together.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from theensuing specification and appended drawing in which:

Fig. l is a central transverse sectional view of a mop embodying myimproved mop head with the handle removed;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front view of the mop head shown partly insection;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of the same;

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the mop with the handle in the position ofadjustment for cleaning a floor;

Fig. 5 is a schematic view of the mop with the handle in the position ofadjustment for cleaning, for example, a shelf at about waist height;

Fig. 6 is a schematic view of the mop with the handle in a position ofadjustment for cleaning an overhead surface such as a shelf; and

Fig. 7 is a schematic view of the mop with the handle in a position ofadjustment for cleaning along the juncture of a wall and floor.

The mop generally consists of a mop head A, a handle B and anarticulated connection C, for securing the handle to the mop head. Themop head is comprised of upper and lower clamping jaws 1 and 2, each ofwhich may be in channel form including web portions 3 and 4 withoutwardly and downwardly flaring side flanges 5, 6, 7 and 8, which areinclined at an angle of approximately 45 with reference to the plane ofthe web portions 3 and 4. These clamping jaws may be in the form ofstampings made from rigid sheet material such as aluminum or steel.

A mop cloth 9 is interposed between the clamping jaws and is providedwith spaced apertures 9a through which the clamping bolts 10 project. Aferrule 11 is fixed to the lower end of the handle in a conventionalmanner and a shank 12 projects outwardly from the end of the handle. Theinner end of the shank projects into a bore in the end of the handle soas to be firmly anchored relative to the handle. A spherical ball 13 isfixed to the end of the shank. That portion of the shank adjacent to theball and referred to generally by the numeral 14 is offset at an angleof approximately 45 relative to the remaining portion of the shank whichis referred to by the numeral 15 and the axis of which is concentricwith the longitudinal axis of the handle.

provide a mop having the handle and mop universal adjustment The jointfor connecting the handle to the mop head includes a plate 16 which ispositioned on the upper surface of the web portion 3 of the clampingjaw 1. A cap designated generally by the numeral 17 is positioned abovethe plate 16 in face to face fashion and a pair of compression springs18 and 19 are telescopically positioned over the ends of the clampingbolts 10 between the cap washers 2i) and 21 and the upper face of thecap. The nuts 22 and 23 are threaded onto the ends of the bolts andengage the cap washers 20 and 21.

The plate 16 has a concave recess 24 formed in its upper face and thecap 17 has a socket 25 formed therein with a concave interior 26. A slot27 is formed in the wall of the socket and its closed end 28 is slightlybeyond the center point of the socket, the opposite end of the slotopening unrestrictedly through the side margin of the cap. The width ofthe slot is slightly greater than the diameter of the shank 12 to permitfree movement of the shank either rotatively within the slot orarcuately throughout the length of the slot.

In the assembly of the handle and the component parts of the mop head,the mop cloth is first inserted between the upper and lower clampingjaws with the apertures 92 substantially in registry with thecorresponding apertures 29 and 30 in the clamping jaws and then theshank portions of the clamping bolts are inserted through the registeredapertures until the heads ofthe bolts engage the underside of jaw 2.Then the plate 16 is installed onto the bolt shanks and ball 13 ispositioned in the recess in the plate 16. The cap 17 is then positionedonto the bolts while the handle shank 12 is guided into the slot 27.Then the compression springs are assembled onto the respective boltshanks followed by the cap washers and the adjustment nuts. The nuts arethen tightened until a predetermined amount of tension is exerted by thesprings against the cap. This tension should be such as to set up aconsiderable amount of frictional resistance between the surface of theball and the interior wall of the cap socket, so that by grasping themop head in one hand and the handle of the mop in the other hand, thehandle can be swung into any desired position of adjustment relative tothe mop head and will remain in such position of adjustment duringnormal usage of the mop for cleaning purposes. It is apparent that themop handle can be rotated a full 360 about the axis of that portion ofthe handle shank adjacent to the ball. The handle can likewise beadjusted up and down relative to the mop head in an arcuate paththroughout the length of the slot 27.

Viewing Fig. 3 it will be noted that when the mop head is resting on ahorizontal surface, the portion of the shank adjacent to the ballprojects in a vertical direction, said shank resting against the closedend 28 of the slot 27. In this position the handle projects outwardlyfrom the mop head at an angle of approximately 45 from the vertical.This is approximately the desired position of adjustment for using themop on a horizontal surface as shown in Fig. 4. In the position as shownin Fig. 5 the shank portion of the handle would be withdrawn about halfway down the length of the slot 27. When the handle shank is withdrawndownwardly throughout the full length of the slot 27, the mop handlewill be lined in a position defining an angle of approximately 45 belowa horizontal plane, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and as shown inFig. 6.

Viewing Fig. 1 it will be noted that the rear wall 31 of the plate 16does not project beyond the vertical plane of rear edge 32 of the cap17. It will also be noted that the undersurface of the cap is spaced asubstantial distance from the upper surface of the plate 16, so thatwhen the handle is swung down into the position as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 1, the end 33 of the handle will clear the rear wall 31 of theplate and the rear edge 32 of the cap so as to permit a maximum downwardadjustment of the handle relative to the mop head to better facilitatethe cleaning of overhead surfaces. The mop is particularly suitable foruse in cleaning a floor along the juncture of the floor and a verticalwall as is shown in Fig. 7. The mop head is simply turned so that themop handle is aligned lengthwise with the mop head and in this positionone side of the mop cloth throughout the entire length of the mop headis directly in contact with the floor and the wall along the juncture ofwall and floor.

In some instances it may be desirable to use the rnop when the handle isdirected in a true vertical position relative to the mop head. This maybe done by simply adjusting the handle to the position shown in Fig. 5and then rotating the handle 180 about its own axisv By fixing the ball13 on the end of the handle instead of on the mop head, there is lesstendency of the mop head to rol relative to the handle during usethereof since the downward thrust on the handle is being transmitted tothe ball and against the walls of the socket, instead of vice versa.While the tension exerted by the springs on the ball and socket jointshould be adjusted to prevent the mop handle from shifting relative tothe mop head under normal usage, however, when the handle meets anobstruction, such as a low overhanging piece of furniture, the handlewill shift its position of adjustment relative to the mop head insteadof breaking.

I claim:

1. In a mop: a holder comprising a pair of channels of substantiallyrigid sheet material each having a web portion and a pair of flangesthat diverge downwardly, with each flange subtending an angle ofapproximately 135 with reference to its respective web portion; a pairof bolts, spaced longitudinally of the mop on respective sides of thecenter thereof, said bolts extending upwardly through the respectivechannels and adapted to secure the channels in clamping relation to amop head engaged therebetween; socket means on the web portion of theupper channel providing an upwardly facing spherical recess; a handlehaving at its end a pivot ball adapted to seat in said recess andincluding a shank bent at an angle of approximately 135, securing saidball to the end of the handle; a retainer cap of bar form having at itsrespective ends apertures through which said bolts extend and having acentral portion in the form of a spherical socket provided with a slotextending from the crown of said socket to one side margin thereof in aplane normal to the longitudinal axis of said cap; securing elements onthe ends of said bolts, and means yieldingly engaged under compressionbetween said securing elements and the respective ends of said cap foryieldingly clamping said ball between said recess and said socket withthe handle shank projecting through said slot whereby said handle may beshifted between limit positions in one of which said shank engages theend of said slot at the crown of said socket member so as to positionsaid handle at an angle of approximately 45 to the plane of a channelweb, and in another of which said handle is disposed substantiallyparallel to and adjacent the channel flanges on one side, with themajority of the 'handle projecting below the general plane of theholder, for cleaning the upper faces of elevated ledges.

2. In a mop: a holder comprising a pair of channels of substantiallyrigid sheet material each having a web portion and a pair of flangesthat diverge downwardly, with each flange subtending an angle ofapproximately with reference to its respective web portion; a pair ofbolts, spaced longitudinally of the mop on respective sides of thecenter thereof, said bolts extending upwardly through the respectivechannels and adapted to secure the channels in clamping relation to amop head engaged therebetween; a plate seated against the upper face ofthe web portion of the upper channel and having a pair of openingsthrough which said bolts extend, said plate having at its center anupwardly facing spherical recess; a handle having at its end a pivotball adapted to seat in said recess and including a shank bent at anangle of approximately 135, securing said ball to the end of the handle;a retainer cap of bar form having at its respective ends aperturesthrough which said bolts extend and having a central portion in the formof a spherical socket provided with a slot extending from the crown ofsaid socket to one side margin thereof in a plane normal to thelongitudinal axis of said cap; securing elements on the ends of saidbolts, and means yieldingly engaged under compression between saidsecuring elements and the respective ends of said cap for yieldinglyclamping said ball between said recess and said socket with the handleshank projecting through said slot whereby said handle may be shiftedbetween the limit positions in one of which said shank engages the endof said slot at the crown of said socket member so as to position saidhandle at an angle of approximately 45 to the plane of a channel web,and in another of which said handle is disposed substantially parallelto and adjacent the channel flanges on one side, with the majority ofthe handle projecting below the general plane of the holder, forcleaning the upper faces of elevated ledges.

3. A mop as defined in claim 2, wherein said yielding means comprisescoil springs encircling the respective bolts, wherein the upper ends ofthe bolts are threaded, and wherein said securing elements comprise nutson said threaded ends and washers engaged betwen said nuts and the coilsprings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,797,458 Westling Mar. 24, 1931 2,234,831 Porter Mar. 11, 19412,489,158 Rodgers Nov. 22, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 134,016 Germany Sept. 1,1902 102,928 Australia Jan. 7, 1938

